Guides to body measurements and anatomy
19 guides, each built on named sources: how to take a tape measurement, what the shape names mean, what BMI and the waist ratios can and cannot tell you, and where things sit inside the body.
Measuring and body shape
36-24-36 measurements: what the numbers mean and how common they are36-24-36 is a 36 in bust, 24 in waist and 36 in hips: 91.4, 61.0 and 91.4 cm. CDC tables put a 61 cm waist under the 5th percentile of US women.Apple body shape: how a waist larger than the hips is definedApple is an informal name. In clothing formulas a waist larger than the hips is an oval or a diamond. With NHLBI, WHO and NICE waist marks in inches and cm.Average body measurements of US men and womenCDC 2021 to 2023: the average US man is 175.1 cm, 90.3 kg, waist 103.0 cm; the average woman 161.2 cm, 77.9 kg, 97.9 cm. Percentiles and Army girths.Body shape types: seven female shapes, each defined by measurementThe seven female body shape types by measurement: each rule in inches and cm, what pear and apple map to, and how common each shape is in four samples.Ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph: what the three somatotypes meanEctomorph, mesomorph and endomorph date from William Sheldon's books of 1940 and 1942. Heath-Carter now rates a body on 3 numbers from 10 measurements.Hourglass body shape: the measurements behind an hourglass figureAn hourglass figure has near-equal bust and hips and a waist at least 9 in (22.9 cm) smaller. The rules in inches and cm, the 36-24-36 test and six samples.How to take body measurements at home, from bust to inseamWhere the tape goes for bust, waist, hips, inseam, shoulders, neck, thigh, calf and arm, by WHO, CDC, ISO and US Army manuals, and why the waist has 4 sites.Inverted triangle body shape: the measurements for women and menInverted triangle body shape in numbers: bust 3.6 in (9.1 cm) or more over hips, under 9 in over waist. Shares from under 1% to nearly 14%. Men's sizing too.Pear body shape: triangle and spoon measurementsA pear or triangle shape has hips at least 3.6 in (9.1 cm) larger than the bust. A high hip ratio of 1.193 splits triangle from spoon. With a worked example.Rectangle body shape: the straight figure by measurementA rectangle (straight) body shape: bust and hips within 3.6 in, waist under 9 in smaller than the bust. About 46% of over 6,300 US women in a 2006 analysis.
Weight, BMI and ratios
BMI categories and limits: the cut-offs from 18.5 to 40Adult BMI cut-offs from the CDC and WHO: 18.5, 25, 30, 35 and 40. How BMI is worked out in kg or lb, what it leaves out, and the lower points at 23 and 27.5.Waist to hip vs waist to height ratio: cut-offs, method and evidenceWaist to hip ratio is waist over hips (WHO table: 0.90 men, 0.85 women). Waist to height is waist over height (NICE: 0.5). How to measure and compare them.What 150, 180 and 200 pounds look like at four heights150 lb is BMI 29.3 at 5 ft 0 and 20.3 at 6 ft 0. See 150, 180 and 200 pounds drawn at four heights, with a BMI table for 140 to 200 lb by height.
Inside the body
Abdominal quadrants and organs: the four quadrants and nine regionsFour quadrants cross at the navel; nine regions use two horizontal and two vertical lines. The organs in each, with the landmarks that set every line.How many bones are in the human body: 206 in an adultAn adult has 206 bones: 80 in the skull, spine and rib cage and 126 in the limbs and girdles. A newborn has about 270 to 300. Hands and feet alone hold 106.Largest organs in the human body: the ten heaviest, with weightsSkin is the largest organ, at 1.5 to 2 square meters. The liver is the largest inside the body: about 1.6 kg in men, 1.3 kg in women. Ten organs by weight.Organ systems of the human body: the 11 systems and what each doesThe body has 11 organ systems with the skin's system added to the National Cancer Institute's ten, and 12 at Cleveland Clinic. What each system does.Organs on the right and left side of the body, level by levelThe liver, gallbladder, cecum and appendix sit on the right; the stomach, spleen and sigmoid colon on the left. Each side by level, front and back.Where is the liver located? Under the right ribs, mostly right of the midlineThe liver sits under the right ribs, from the fifth rib cartilage to the rib margin, and ends about 5 cm left of the midline. Size, weight and lobes.